Ask the students if they have ever sent or received a postcard. Read the book Post Card Passages by Susan Joyce to understand the concept of a post card and the information it usually contains. Ask them where they think we could get some information on a country and have the students use encyclopedias and other reference sources. Have students work with a partner to create postcards and send them to one another.

Books used: Books that feature curious and fabulous monsters from around the world. For example: BUNYIPS DON´T by Sally Odgers features Australian monsters called bunyips; TALES OF THE TOKOLOSHE by Pieter Scholtz features the African tokoloshe; and THE TANIWHA OF WELLINGTON HARBOUR by Moira Wairama features the Maori taniwha.Materials needed:
– Sheets of paper – Pens and pencils for drawing

Brief outline of program or event:

Read books about some of the weird and wonderful monsters that exist in mythology from around the world.

Talk about some of the monsters that exist in Western/European mythology (for example, vampires, werewolves, etc)

Ask the kids to grab their pens and paper and dream up their own monster. Encourage them to create a monster that is specific to them. Draw the monster and label its attributes. Does it have strong legs for jumping mountains? Does it carry a cake for feeding its friends? Does it wear sunglasses to protect its eyes from the snow?

Information about the salt scrub craft:
* The Dead Sea cannot support life because of its high salt content,
which is how it got its name. Our ocean is about 3.5% salt and the
Dead Sea is about 35% salt.
* When you visit the Dead Sea you will float really easily due to the
salt level.
* Salt water also has healing properties! That’s why sometimes people
wash their wounds with it.
* The high level of salt in the Dead Sea makes bathing in it (in
limited doses) really good for your skin.
* Of course, people have decided to make this more widely available to
those who can’t just pop over to the Dead Sea.
* When you go to Israel, you can buy all kinds of soaps and scrubs and
lotions made with water from the Dead Sea. They have lines for women
and lines for men and all kinds of different products. They’re one of
the most common gifts that people bring home for loved ones from
Israel.
* Today we’re going to make our own salt scrub, either for you or as a gift for a loved one.

Help kids measure out the 2 kinds of salts and the baking soda into
bowls and have them mix for a while. Then help them add a few drops of
scent and a few drops of soap coloring to each batch of salts. Kids
can create their own “custom” scrub by mixing various drops of colors
and scents however they want.

After the salt/color/scent combo is mixed well, help the kids pour it
through the funnel and into the bottle. Some kids might choose to
share with each other and make a layered look. This is cool!

When it’s all been poured, help them attach pre-printed and
pre-hole-punched cards that say inside “Add about ½ cup to your bath
water. Or use ½ cup in a basin of warm water for a relaxing foot soak.
Makes about 4 baths.”

Allow the children to decorate the rest of the card with markers/etc
and then help them attach it to the bottle with curly ribbon.

Show ART examples and explain that Aboriginal people do not have a written language but make use of many common symbols called iconography. They vary from region to region but are generally understood and form an important component of Aboriginal Art. The symbols in the artwork tell a story. Technique: paintings / images made using dots.